One From the Archives

I'm feeling under the weather today. I ended up up sleeping away most of the afternoon and the evening. I guess I need to be on a beach in Costa Rica. I hope you are having a lovely weekend God bless, chris

Leapin' Lizards

Coming from a place in Northern California where the biggest lizards are typically eight to ten inches long I was fascinated with the iguanas of Costa Rica which can be quite large. They have adapted well to their environment and can be found in parking lots, at the beach and on roof tops. They can also frequently can be seen sunning or running across the roads. Most of the time they appear to be slow and sluggish but that is quite deceiving as they can move like lightning when they want to. I discovered this numerous times when I tried to get close to the local resident iguana at the villa we rented. It would sit on the driveway next to a drain. Any time I made a move to get closer it would dive down into the drain in a flash. Some of the smaller green iguanas were quite approachable and I captured some pretty nice images of them. I got a great close up portrait of one of the bigger ones by crawling on my belly across a parking lot. I did photograph one red faced lizard that I'm working on getting an ID for. Enjoy the images and God bless, chris

Surfing

Tamarindo in the Guanacaste Region of Costa Rica is a surfing mecca and a delight. It boasts warm waters, sandy beaches and best of all a steady swell coming off the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. There are beautiful beach breaks to be found everywhere. The town of Tamrindo caters to surfers with plenty of surf shops, lessons and easy access to the beach as the town fronts the playa. Walking around town we saw plenty of surfers carrying their boards to and from the beach. For a photographer even though I am not a surf photographer I was immediately drawn into capturing the action and beauty of surfing. It is quite addictive and harder than I expected to get a great image. You really have to work to keep the surfers composed in the right spot in the frame and make sure the horizon in the background is straight. It is quite challenging and fun. Enjoy the images and have a blessed evening, chris

Entrepreneurial Costa Ricans

The Costa Rican government has made a shift into focusing the countries efforts into education and tourism. The Tamarindo area where we stayed caters to tourists. Because of this we met a lot of people that have jobs that are directly tied to the tourist trade. We had Hugo a chef who runs Private Chef of Costa Rica. He prepared us some amazing meals when we stayed at Hacienda Panilla. If you ever go to to Costa Rica look into hiring him to prepare some meals for you. He is on Facebook. They were delicious and the price was in line with restaurants in the area. Part of our group hired Pablo to take them on a surfing safari. He was a former Peruvian big wave surfer who now makes a living taking surfers on tours along the Cost Rican coast. On one of our morning walks we ran into Coco. Coco was a Panamanian that makes artistic creations out of coconut leaves. He was making a hat that he said was going to pay for his breakfast. He made us a flower and a grasshopper. When I gave him some cash for it he responded that it would be used to buy him bread for his lunch. Later on we met Isabelle who was a morning fixture for many people in Tamarindo. She makes corn tortilla empanadas that are a hit for everyone. She sets up her stand beside the road selling nonstop to tourists and Cost Ricans alike. For lunch one day we purchased shish kabobs hot off the grill from a family that has a roadside bbq right on the road next to the beach. We took a tour of the Tamarindo estuary with the salty Gerardo who pointed out a crocodillo and a wide variety of birds. He runs a variety of tours with some business partners. We also met Marvin who sells leeche fruits for five dollars a kilo beside the road. He showed us how to plunge our thumbs into the top of the fruit to peel it back to get at the sweet nugget of fruit inside. One of the most common sights and sounds of Tamarindo are the bird whistle sellers. You can hear and see them warbling with there wares on both the beaches and streets of the town. We bought whistles from Francisco and a woman. They were great to talk to. All of the Costa Ricans we met were extremely helpful and friendly. What a wonderful country.

Family Vacation

It has been a long time since our family went on an extended vacation together. With the kids in college and working summer jobs it gets a little bit harder to pull something together. When my brother in law suggested a trip to Costa Rica we jumped at the chance. After a bit of wrangling we pulled the trip together. We flew into Liberia Costa Rica. There we rented a small Suzuki Jimmy. It was a tight fit that barely squeezed all four of us and all of our luggage for the hour and fifteen minute long trip to Hacienda Panilla near Tamarindo on the Pacific Ocean. What was supposed to be a short journey got extended when we missed a turn making it quite a bit longer. With the longer trip we got a good look at the Guanacaste Region. The region was made up of low mountains with a lot of small ranches and a few beautiful streams flowing through. Interspersed through out the mountains were flat lowlands with pastures full of Brahma cows. Costa Rican houses were scattered along the narrow two lane highways that have no shoulders. Almost all had a dish or two on each one. I loved the color bright colors and the flowers planted around them. Arriving at Hacienda Panilla we were directed to the house we had rented with three other families. What an amazing place! It was a Spanish Style Villa with courtyards and patios. A much higher standard than I am used to when I am out taking pictures. I usually opt for a motel six! It didn't take us long to settle in and hit the beach. More to follow. God's blessings to all, chris